Reviews

When your country is at war with another, or perhaps many others, you are aware of the risk to human life. You know soldiers will die, you know that some of these may be people you know or even your loved ones. But, though the civilians at home worry about those who are away fighting for their country, they rarely see themselves as part of the war. The threat to them seems far away, almost unreal. So when the occupying forces marched into the Bosnian village where S. lived, her immediate reaction is not of panic. She is mildly annoyed for having been woken up, but she still has faith in the human capacity for reason and she believes that if she surrenders her jewellry and valuables without making a fuss, then no one will do her any harm. In other words, she is naive.

The civilians are captured and taken away to work camps, one for men and one for women. But deep within the female camp is the room that every prisoner dreads - the women's room. A room where women become objects to be used by the soldiers, a room of pain and despair where all hope dies and a person is forced to become empty. Being empty in your mind, abandoning your body at will, this is the only way to survive. Drakulic shows the extent of human depravity in one of the most disturbing accounts of captivity during wartime. Her use of the first letter in place of the women's names is important in understanding the ability to dehumanize the enemy, they become things and not people. It is repulsive, scary and sad.

But the author, in my opinion, never slips over into the gratuitous because her focus is on S.'s inner turmoil. It is not just about the sexual abuse, the beatings and cruelty, it's about the effect this has on the victims, how they retreat inside themselves and the lengths they go to in order to keep their sanity in a world gone mad. Not only that, but she even looks at what it's like to be a soldier blindly following orders, dehumanizing yourself to find the ability to commit atrocities during war. It's easy to have enemies and it's easy to hate, but what does it take to make you someone who can torture another human being? What must they become in your mind? What must you become?

When showing the crimes men commit towards women, when showing a group of male soldiers laughing at a woman's pain, it becomes so easy to delve into misandry. You hate the Serbian soldiers, you hate the things they do to the women. But this is only partly a gender issue. Drakulic wants to tell the many untold stories of women during the Bosnian war (there are an estimated 60,000+ rape victims), she wants us to know about the suffering they faced because of their gender. But, for the author, humanity has one common enemy regardless of your race, religion or gender... and that is war. War makes us all something other than human, it allows those with the power to become monstrous and it allows those without it to be seen as vermin.

Though the author chose to focus on the Bosnian war and particularly the way women were treated during this war, the backbone of this story is universally applicable. She expertly tells a story about some of the vilest, most horrific things that can happen to a human being, she captures humanity at it's best and worst, showing exactly what we are capable of - both the good and the bad.

brina_petrovcic's review against another edition

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4.0

woman's body as a battlefield

thepizzasmeow's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

spaceyyycasey's review against another edition

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5.0

i cannot think of words that will do this book justice. it is something everyone should read, but shouldn't have to exist. Drakulic portrays atrocities in a way that isn't exploitative, while still remaining truthful to the experiences of survivors. it's hard to call a book like this "my favorite," but it's the easiest way i can describe a book that was profoundly impactful from start to finish

shooshmack's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

jess_mango's review against another edition

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5.0

This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2019 Challenge task #10: a translated book written by a woman

4.5 stars.

Ooof. Let me process this one. More thoughts later.

S. is set in the early 90's during the Serbia/Bosnia conflict. S. is a teacher living in a village when soldiers gather her and other villagers up and bus them to a camp where the women are separated from the men. Some of the women are separated even further into the 'Women's Room' where they are at the disposal of the soldiers to do with what they will.

This book was powerful. It highlights the issues women and girls face during wartime when captured by "the enemy"...sexual assault, rape, torture. The women for the most part were in shock with their circumstances and became focused on self-preservation. While this definitely wasn't a light read I am very glad that I read it. I'm not afraid to admit that I got emotional at the ending.

warning: this book is not for anyone who may be triggered by discussion of sexual assault and rape.

genesisreads's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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